New Order: Chapter 1 Endings & Beginnings
by wmcampbell
Summary: The war is over, it's now time to pick up the pieces. As the threat of the Syndics falls, a vacuum is created and many little princes believe that they have the right and the strength to rule.


"Sensors clear, just the _Alicia_ making her way to the Yokai jump-point," the young man said as he swung himself into his couch. The _Felicity_ wasn't big enough (and her owners rich enough), to have artificial gravity, so maneuvering around the small control deck was more art than science. Strapping himself in, he began an active sweep of the Batara System. He was able to identify three of the ships closest to the _Felicity_ from their transponders, the other 54 ships transiting Batara were mostly merchants like her, with a smattering of PDF craft closer in system around the main world.

"Good work Michealson, keep your eyes peeled for anyone getting a little to cuddly." The Captain was a woman in her late forties who had been plying the space lanes since she was younger than Michealson, she knew the dangers that former Syndic space held for honest business folk. "Crystina, steady as she goes. We have plenty of room, don't crowd the _Alicia_ as she comes by."

"Yes, Mom. I mean, Ma'am" They younger version of the Captain flashed beet red as she shot Michealson a glance. She hated to show her younger side around her handsome shipmate. "Steady as she goes."

"Cap, the _Alicia_ sends her regards and warns of raider attacks near the outer mining stations." Michealson had his headset on and was talking over his shoulder, "She says that at least three ships have been attacked that they know of, and two more are overdue from Tiyannak." Captain Jacobs replied with a curt nod and continued reviewing the docking procedures for Xiang Xi Logistical Port.

The next day went by without incident, the _Alicia_ jumped and the _Felicity_ sailed quietly through the void. Her approach brought her through the gravity well of little rocky world to slingshot her into the inner system. The maneuver took them through pretty empty space, only a couple of ships would intersect their trajectory, most of which were heavy ore freighters headed in towards the manufacturing facilities handling the bulk of the rebuilding work. The _Alicia_ carried hardware components for some of the advanced computers that had been pounded to dust along with the facilities that could replace those parts, so _Alicia's_ parent company had been contracted to haul them in from Adriana for a small fortune.

The crew of the _Alicia_ didn't know this, they were under the assumption that they were hauling components for mining equipment. The fewer people who knew of the small fortune tuck away in their cargo holds, the better. And so it was blissfully unaware that the _Alicia_ sailed through the night.

It was early into the first watch when one of the smaller ships in the area, the _Luna Crescent_ according to her transponder, declared an emergency. The ship's crew reported that they had a containment breach and were abandoning ship. Crystina immediately woke her mother and shipmate, and began to vector closer towards the _Crescent_. Michealson came sailing on the control deck, not bothering to place himself in his couch. "Their containment is down and their life pod is away, at this rate their reactor could go at any time."

"Vector 5 degrees to port, we will pick them up but a little further away from that ship, should it go up," Captain Jacobs ordered as she secured herself in her control couch. "Are there any other ships nearby?"

"Negative Skipper, the _Moremont_ will take the better part of 16 hours to slow and reverse course." Michealson worked to raise the life pod, only picking up a word or two through the static. "Cap, her comms are weak, we were at the edge of the original broadcast strength."

"Relay the distress call to the _Moremont, _and let them know we are going after that life pod." Captain Jacobs ordered as she directed more power to the engines. "We should reach them in just under two hours." The _Alicia_ and her crew headed answer the oldest call known to mankind, "Help." It was a call every sailor took seriously, because with the void, it was a matter of when, not if, you would make the same call yourself, and you just hoped that you could store up enough good will to ensure that when you made it, it was heard.

Crystina's head swam as she floated in the life pod. She could see tiny bubbles of blood floating in front of her face. She touched the back of her head, her hair wet, her fingers came back stained with blood. She groped for something to grab ahold of, to steady herself, her fingers closing around the hard case of the emergency med-kit. The memory came flooding back, Captain Jacobs and her crew stood by to open the survival pod, but just before they were to break the seal, the Captain ordered Crystina to grab the emergency med-kit out of their own survival pod. Crystina was confused, but in the heat of the moment she didn't hesitate. She had no sooner grabbed the kit and turned back toward the hatch when she felt a sudden drop in pressure before the hatch slammed shut and she slammed into it.

The thought of her mother and shipmate being caught in the vacuum, 'did we not get a good seal?' she thought to herself. Her vision cleared and she began working the built in comm unit. There was no response from the _Alicia_, there was a small viewport in the hatch, Crystina had avoided looking through it for fear of seeing her mother's body floating beyond, but when she forced herself to look, she saw the _Alicia_ getting smaller! She had somehow been launched after she hit her head. The emergency transponder would have been activated upon launch, but at that moment she didn't care, her home, her family was quickly receding out of sight.

The stark corridors of the supply base would have been off-putting to some. The austere fleet grey walls, darker grey decks, and the complete lack of decor left many a visitor to McCauliff Station, in the Yokai system, feeling cold. LT. Al Tennyson didn't find these corridors cold or off-putting, he felt at home here. Growing up on an orbital platform in Madira system, he had always felt more comfortable in space than on a planet. McCauliff had only recently been recommissioned. Where it had originally serviced ships holding the line against Syndic incursion, it now serviced ships running customs operations. Batara and nearby systems weren't completely under the thumb of the Syndics again, and as such were more open to trade with Alliance systems. Adriana and other local systems were happy for the trade, but didn't want all the other things that came with open shipping lanes; smugglers, refugees, and covert missions, just to name a few.

Tennyson had just arrived in system via courier ship. He had been granted command of a destroyer in the reconstituted Seventh Destroyer Squadron, which had taken a beating at Heradao and Lakota. The Squadron had been rebuilt around the _Brazen_, _Vulture_, and _Electra_. Joining these veterans would be the _Recruit, Petard, Bayonet, Prasa, _and Tennyson's new command, the _War-Hammer._ These newest ships were named for the ships previously in the squadron, and fresh from the shipyards of Petit. It had taken a few weeks to transfer the ships to Yokai, Tennyson had seen their transfer crews spending some of their recent pay at the Cantina down by the docks when he landed.

Tennyson, like most of the crews of the new ships, was a veteran of the Long Return from the First Battle of Prime. He had jumped into Prime as a 2nd Lieutenant, but had been promoted upon his return to Varandal. He had served upon _Dagger_ until it went down at Kaliban, after his survival pod was picked up he had served under Lieutenant Kirasowa on the _Vulture_. He had been elevated to the executive officer of that ship when the former officer was killed at Heradao. Varandal had been his last battle aboard the _Vulture_ as he had been wounded there, causing him to miss the Second Battle of Prime and subsequent mission to Midway System.

It had been a long nine months of rehabilitation, he had been very near leaving the fleet, but Kirasowa had come to visit him last month and asked him to take on the _War-hammer._ With the war ending and so many fleet personnel leaving there was a shortage of officers who both had enough experience to command and were willing to stay. After a century at war, a lifetime for everyone now serving, except Black Jack, people wanted to try to live a life that wasn't dominated by conflict and strife. Tennyson had to be honest with himself, he thanked the living stars that Kirasowa had asked him to stay, he was not looking forward to trying to complete against the millions of former fleet and marine personnel looking for civilian jobs.

The war with the Syndics had caused him to sign up, honor demanded it, but with the war over Tennyson had begun to wonder what the point was. He had spent a lot of time while going through treatment wondering about what his service would mean now, the 'why' of it all giving him pause. Then the First Fleet returned from Midway, and the 'why' was clearer than ever. There were factions out there, human and alien, that meant to destroy the Alliance and that had to be stopped at all cost. There was a saying from some ancient Earth leader, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others."

The frequency of people passing him increased as he rounded the corner into the command corridor. The base admin and logistics offices were here as well as a small office for the Seventh Destroyer Squadron. Normally a squadron wouldn't have a fixed office, but with the squadron split between Yokai and Molnari systems the official headquarters would be here at McCauliff. As Kirasowa had explained, the fleet was being downsized, but they were not downsizing units, fewer command structures that way. The result was that a single squadron was now responsible for customs and pirate interdiction over a four system area. The eight ships of the Seventh would run staggered patrols from Yokai to Molnari through Adriana and Abassas, a four month patrol.

The office was small with three desks, one for Kirasowa when he was present in the system, one for a Lieutenant Sommers, the squadron logistics officer, and Chief Mayse, the squadron adjutant. Kirasowa was currently sitting in his office chair at the end of Chief Mayse's desk reviewing personnel assignments on a data pad. He stood, setting down his coffee and his pad, when he saw Tennyson. Returning the salute, he extended his hand.

"Lieutenant Commander! Congratulations." Tennyson took his commander's hand.

"Thank you, they decided that a 1st Lieutenant wasn't sufficiently high ranked to command a destroyer squadron, so the Admiral promoted me. It's good to see you," he waved at a chair at the end of his desk, "have a seat." Formal introductions were made as they crossed the office Chief Mayse smiled pleasantly before returning to her work. Lt Sommers looked up long enough to say hello, before diving back into his consol murmuring to himself. "A social butterfly that one," Kirasowa said under his breath to Tennyson. "Did you see her when you docked?"

There are few women sailor could speak of without using her name and they almost always were ships. Tennyson had seen his new command when he docked, she was menacing, like all Alliance warships, she had the look and a shark from Earth, in short, she was beautiful. "I am looking forward to taking her out and putting her through her paces. I know the shakedown crew that brought her here would have run her pretty hard, but I am interested in seeing what a girl like her, a lady born in peacetime, can do." Since the return of the First Fleet, and the destruction of the Defender fleet, new ships were being built to replace the wartime ships that were built for extremely short lifespans. The First Fleet had ongoing issues with components wearing out from before the second battle of Prime, and as Admiral Geary had shaken up Fleet HQ, the new ships were taking longer to roll out, but were much better quality than their wartime sisters. The _War-hammer_ was of the new _Bayonet-_class destroyers that were designed for peacetime roles.

"You'll get the chance, I haven't arranged any quarters for you on the station, I was confident that you would want to get aboard. Your XO is already there, 2nd Lieutenant Sarah Dormer. She came aboard the _Electra_ with Panserre, you remember Juan?"

"How could I forget him, he bought me a great trip home for leave. The guy needs to give up poker or I will start shopping for new dress blues." They shared their laugh and a few other stories, a few drawing a laugh or two from Chief. Having caught up with his old friend and new commander, Tennyson wanted to see his new command. Excusing himself, he made his way through the station, having to stop and get directions a few times. Finally, his path took him by a viewscreen showing the docked ships outside. His first up close view of the _War-hammer _caused his breath to catch. She had the same lines, same standard fleet paint job, same equipment suite as any other destroyer he had served on, but she was beautiful, graceful, menacing, and his.


End file.
